Four men rescued after boat becomes disabled off Popham Beach

Four men were rescued off the coast of Popham Beach State Park Tuesday afternoon when their motorboat became disabled and started taking on water.

The Coast Guard replied to their distress call, which was received around 3 p.m., with three boats and a helicopter based in Cape Cod.

Conditions began to worsen after the 20-foot Bowrider lost engine power. Waves of 6 to 7 feet were washing over the boat’s hull, according to the Coast Guard.

“He couldn’t move,” Chief Warrant Officer Ray Anderson, who is stationed at the Coast Guard base in South Portland, said of the boat’s pilot. “They had a lot of surf coming over the bow.”

Fearing that the boat might sink, the Coast Guard responded by sending 47-foot and 27-foot lifeboats from Boothbay Harbor to the scene. A 47-foot lifeboat out of South Portland also responded and the Coast Guard station on Cape Guard dispatched a helicopter.

The crew of the 47-foot lifeboat from Boothbay Harbor arrived first and determined that the motorboat was not in immediate danger of sinking. The helicopter and boat crews were turned back and the Coast Guard lifeboat towed the Bowrider to the docks at nearby Fort Baldwin.

“They were a little shaken,” Anderson said of the four adult men on board. “But there were no injuries or medical concerns reported.”

Anderson said the men’s boat became disabled near Pond Island, which is about a quarter-mile from the shoreline of Popham Beach State Park.

That stretch of ocean where the mouth of the Kennebec River empties into the Atlantic Ocean is known for its strong tides and turbulent wave action.

Anderson said the boaters were taken home by friends and their boat remained at Fort Baldwin, which is in Phippsburg.